Chase Our Forever (Sutten Mountain #3)

4. Liv

4

LIV

“So you really have no idea where you’re going next?” Pippa asks, her eyes focused on me. Clara squirms in her lap, too busy coloring all over a paper menu to pay attention to our conversation.

“I really have no idea,” I respond, folding my arms over my chest. “I do love the mountains here, though. So maybe somewhere like this with mountains.” I’ve been talking on and off with Pippa and Lexi for almost two hours now. We’ve done different activities to keep Clara entertained, and I can’t help but think this is the best afternoon I’ve had in a long time.

Pippa nods. I really like her. There’s no judgment in her features as she mulls over my words. I know it’d be easy for her to tell me it’s crazy for me to leave without knowing where I’m going. Or she could easily ask me a million questions about why I’d travel without any destination in mind, but she doesn’t do either.

Clara slips off Pippa’s lap and comes to my side. She climbs into the booth and right into my lap, making herself at home, even though we only just met. I haven’t been around a lot of kids in my life. Mostly because before this trip, all I ever did was work. I waited tables, cleaned hotel rooms, and did anything possible to earn money for myself—and avoid being home. There wasn’t time to be around kids, not that I knew anyone with them anyway.

“Like my butterfly?” Clara asks, pointing to a couple of obscure lines that look nothing like a butterfly.

“I love your butterfly,” I tell her, turning my head to see if maybe looking at it from a different angle will help me see it better. It doesn’t.

Pippa lets out a dramatic sigh. “Hopefully you don’t find this creepy, because I don’t mean it that way at all, but I kind of wish you were staying in Sutten longer, Liv. I like you.” The way she hurriedly gets out the last sentence makes me wonder if most of the time she doesn’t like people.

“Have you always lived in Sutten?” I ask, changing the subject. The only things I know about this town are this cafe and the things I’ve learned from Lexi and Pippa.

Pippa smiles, her eyes wandering over to the register where Lexi helps the one other customer in here besides me. “Yes, basically. It’s the best place to live. Wouldn’t ever want to live anywhere else.”

“Really? Have you ever gone anywhere else?” Hopefully she doesn’t take my question wrong. I don’t mean anything by it. I just can’t imagine falling so in love with living somewhere that I’d live there my entire life. For as long as I can remember, all I dreamed about was getting out of Florida. I never wanted to stay—and I never want to go back.

Pippa shakes her head. “Oh, absolutely. I left for college, so I was away from Sutten for a bit. And after college, my best friend lived in Chicago for a long time, so I visited her a lot. My fiancé’s from New York and still has work there, so we visit often. I enjoy the city and love going there but definitely couldn’t live there. I love seeing what else the world has to offer, but at the end of the day, I can’t imagine myself living anywhere but in Sutten. It’s home.”

I’m quiet for a moment as I let her words sink in. What’s it like to love home so much you’d never want to leave? Pippa seems to have her life so together. It makes me a little sad, knowing she can’t be much older than I am, and she seems to be so sure about the rest of her life. I, on the other hand, can’t even answer where I plan to end up at the end of this journey.

“I wish I had more time to get to know Sutten,” I mutter, realizing how much I mean the words.

“Why don’t you?”

“Why don’t I what?”

“Why don’t you have more time? From what you’ve said, it sounds like you’re in charge of when and where you’re going.”

Before I can respond, Clara turns around and pushes a loose strand from her face in the process. The stray hair falls right back in front of her eyes, making her let out an annoyed groan. “Fix my hair for me? Daddy sucks at it.”

I try not to laugh. Something tells me she’s probably not supposed to use the word sucks , but it isn’t my place to correct her.

“He tried his best,” I tell Clara, scooting back in the booth slightly so I can angle her in front of me well enough to do her hair. My mother wasn’t around growing up, and I didn’t have anyone to brush my hair or do cute hairstyles on me like the other girls in my class. I had to learn on my own, so although I don’t have the most experience with kids, I can do hair.

“Daddy always tries his best. He still bad at it,” Clara responds.

My eyes briefly meet Pippa’s as we both fight a smile. Gently, I begin to undo the ponytails from Clara’s head so I can fix Dean’s attempt at pigtails.

“Your dad always tries his best,” Pippa tells Clara as Lexi slides into the booth next to her after the other customer walks out the door.

“I know,” Clara responds, her tone rather sassy. I brush through her hair with my fingertips. This would be easier if I had a brush, but I make do however I can.

Pippa stares at the toddler affectionately. It’s clear she cares for her. So does Lexi. It makes me wonder how much they’re in Clara’s life and who is maybe missing from hers as well. “Maybe one of these days, your dad won’t be so picky and find you a nanny that’ll last longer than a week. Then she can learn all sorts of fun hairdos for you.”

Clara lets out a knowing sigh. The drama seems to be high with her, and I can’t imagine she’s much older than two or three. “Daddy has trust issues.”

This makes both Pippa and Lexi burst out in laughter.

“Where did you even learn that?” Lexi manages to get out.

“Mimi,” Clara immediately responds.

I smile. The comment from Clara was incredibly cute, but I think that was because of the exasperated way she talked about her dad. It reminded me of a tiny teenager instead of a toddler.

“Do you want pigtails again?” I ask Clara, missing some of the conversation between Lexi and Pippa that seems to still be about Clara’s dad.

“Can you braid? Poppy always has braids. I want braids.” It makes my heart sting a little the sad way she talks about another little girl having braids when she doesn’t. I remember the feeling all too well. My dad had no idea how to braid. He wouldn’t have cared enough to do my hair even if he did know how.

I realize I’m so lost in my thoughts that I’ve forgotten to answer her. “Yes, I can do braids.”

Clara giddily claps her hands, her body wiggling in excitement. “I want braids.”

I comb through her hair more with my fingers in an attempt to untangle it enough to do braids. I work at beginning one braid while Pippa and Lexi watch closely.

“Lexi, have you also lived in Sutten your whole life?” I ask. As someone who hates sharing details about my past and personal life, I’m never one to pry into others’ lives. But I am curious to know if most of the people who live here have been here since they were young.

Lexi nods. “I have. I used to dream about getting out, but now I’m not so sure.”

“Why aren’t you so sure?”

Lexi smiles, a wistful look coming over her face. “Because I like knowing everyone in the town. I love listening to the town gossip between all of the old ladies who come in a few times a week. I love that we have the pumpkin festival and the Christmas tree lighting. All the things I didn’t like about living here when I was younger are the reasons that I now want to stay.”

I secure the end of Clara’s first braid and work on starting the next. “You have a festival for pumpkins?”

Pippa nods her head excitedly. “We do. And it’s next weekend. I wish you could come to it. I make all kinds of pumpkin-flavored food for the event—including the pumpkin cinnamon rolls.”

I want to drool just thinking about her cinnamon rolls. They were so good. I just know a whole feast of pumpkin-flavored things would be absolutely delicious. “I’m sad I’ll miss it.”

Lexi and Pippa share a look before looking at me. “You don’t have to miss it,” Pippa offers. “You could make an extended pit stop here in Sutten. You said you love the mountains and wanted to find a place like Sutten. Why not just choose Sutten?”

I think over her words for a moment. It’s true I don’t have a destination in mind or even a deadline on when I need to settle down somewhere. But I don’t have the funds to stay here for almost two weeks. I have to take into account how expensive it’d be to stay somewhere. I have enough to give me time to travel to find the spot where I’ll end up, but not much extra. As much as I love the thought of staying here longer, it just isn’t in the cards for me.

I sigh, finishing the end of Clara’s other braid. “I’d love to. There’s something about this town that just feels…I don’t know the right word, but…it feels right . But I only saved up so much for my trip. I have to get going fast so I can find a job at the end of this.”

Before either of them can respond, the door to the cafe opens. There’s a little chime as Clara’s dad walks through the door.

“Daddy!” Clara calls, trying to slide out of my lap.

I laugh, trying to fasten the end of the ponytail on her hair as quickly as possible. “Let me finish this real fast,” I tell her, trying not to pull on her hair.

She squirms in my lap, clearly wanting to get to her dad and not caring about the braids anymore.

“Done.” I let out a sigh of relief before gently grabbing her sides so I can place her safely on the ground.

“Hi, sweetie,” Dean says, crouching down and opening his arms wide for Clara. She runs into them immediately.

While Clara wraps her small arms around his neck, he looks over at us, his eyes connecting with mine for a brief moment before moving to Pippa and Lexi. “Did everything go okay?” The tightness in his voice makes his worry obvious.

All of us nod.

“It went great,” Pippa offers, looking across the table to me. “I think Clara got Liv here to draw her probably twenty different variations of flowers. Clara also got her fill of sweet treats. I couldn’t say no.”

Dean shakes his head, lifting his daughter off the ground and standing to his full height.

“Like my braids, Daddy? Liv did them.” Clara asks, pushing off his chest slightly as she grabs the end of her braids to show them off.

His nostrils flare as his eyes clash with mine for a brief moment. Is he mad? I was just doing what she asked. “I love the braids,” he grits out. “But what was wrong with my pigtails?”

Clara looks back at me with a soft smile. She giggles, probably remembering how she’d just insulted her dad’s hair skills. She’s empathetic enough to not voice her displeasure with the way he does her hair out loud. She shrugs. “One fell out,” she lies.

Even though I’m a little anxious that I overstepped by doing her hair, I can’t help but smile at her words. I look from Clara to Dean, finding his eyes narrowed right at me.

He pauses for a moment, and I swallow, worried he really is upset that I did Clara’s hair. I don’t understand why he would be, but I also don’t know these people, so maybe it was something I shouldn’t have done. Both Lexi and Pippa mentioned he can’t keep a nanny, but maybe the reason he seems upset with me over something as small as a hairdo is why he hasn’t been able to keep one.

“Thank you,” he finally gets out, his voice rougher than I was expecting. “As hard as I try, I can never get her hair just right. I’m sure you made her day by doing this.”

I smile even wider, relief flooding over me that he isn’t upset. I was just overthinking. “It was nothing.”

Pippa leans forward, her palms slapping against the table. “Liv, did you know Dean is looking for a nanny?”

My head cocks to the side. “I think you guys mentioned it. Clara’s great—I’m sure you’ll find someone,” I add awkwardly since I don’t think there’s much insight I can give into his search for a nanny.

“Liv was great with Clara,” Lexi pipes up, a wide smile on her face. “And she’s in need of a job.”

My eyes go wide.

What are they up to?